Contrarian Health » Health Awareness

FDA Warns of Muscle and Kidney damage from high dosage Zocor

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:23:24 +0000

Muscle Injury Risk With Higher Zocor Doses, Certain Other Drugs

Based on review of data from a large clinical trial and data from other sources, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning on March 19, 2010 about an increased risk of muscle injury in patients taking the highest approved dose of the cholesterol-lowering medication, Zocor* (simvastatin) 80 mg, compared to patients taking lower doses of simvastatin and possibly other drugs in the “statin” class.

The FDA also warned that mixing Zocor with certain other drugs also increases patients’ risk of muscle injury, including the rare but serious complication known as rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdomyolysis can sometimes result in fatal kidney damage.

“Other drugs” includes incidental exposure to niacin-containing products as innocent as breakfast cereal.

The combination products Vytorin and Simcor also contain simvastatin, the active ingredient in Zocor. Zocor is a member of the class of drugs known as statins. All statin drugs carry a risk of muscle damage, but new data suggest that this risk may be particularly high for the 80 milligram dose of Zocor.

The data come from the SEARCH study, in which muscle damage was seen in nearly 1% of patients taking the 80 milligram dose of Zocor but in only 0.02% of patients taking the 20 milligram dose of Zocor.

Rhabdomyolysis was rare in the SEARCH study. It happened in only 11 of 6,031 patients (0.02%) in group taking the 80 milligram dose of Zocor, but was not seen in patients taking the 20 milligram dose.

Source : FDA

As always, consult your physician before altering your prescribed medication routine.

Organic Foods in a Nutshell

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:02:38 +0000

From Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Nutrition Specialist :

So, if I were to give my overall recommendations to save yourself from the inherent health dangers of pesticides and herbicides, while also eating food that contains the highest levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, it is this:

1. Choose organic over conventional most of the time, when it’s available

2. Choose local foods over organic if the organic food came from very long distances away (although frozen organic fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as local)

3. Don’t forget that choosing organic also helps to protect the environment from chemical fertilizer and pesticide pollution that can harm ecosystems and your own drinking water supply.

4. Don’t fall for “organic junk foods” — I’ve been seeing this trend lately — Just because crackers, cookies, cakes, and corn chips may be labeled “organic”, doesn’t mean they are healthy… junk food is still junk food! And these are still overly processed foods that can make you fat!

Remember that forcing change for responsible agriculture starts with your choices as a consumer. The more we demand responsibly grown and raised foods by choosing those foods in our shopping carts, the more that producers and suppliers will respond to that demand.

When going nuts is a good thing … up to a point

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:54:57 +0000

While peanuts can be a healthy part of your diet, it’s also important to note that an ounce of raw peanuts has 13 grams of fat and 160 calories. One ounce of peanuts is a small handful, or about 40 pieces.

Unsalted or lightly salted, dry roasted peanuts are best because they avoid cooking oils. It’s the same as baking them in an oven on a cookie sheet (roast shelled peanuts at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes). You can also control the amount of salt you put on them. Check the labels of the dry roasted peanuts for what ingredients are used along with the peanuts; it may differ from supplier to supplier.

Raw peanuts should be avoided because of the possibility of them being contaminated with a fungus that releases a cancer causing metabolic product (mycotoxin) called aflatoxin B1, which is an officially recognized carcinogen (cancer causing compound). Although peanuts grown in dry areas, tend to reduce or eliminate fungus contamination, avoid using raw peanuts for making peanut butter too.

Peanuts contain many important nutrients, including plant protein, fiber, folate, manganese, magnesium, vitamin E, copper, zinc, and iron.

Alternatives to peanuts and peanut butter: almonds and almond butter

Almond butter is the best food alternative to peanut butter and actually has higher omega 3’s. Maybe not as tastey, almond butter is at least not contaminated with the aflatoxin fungus.

On a related health subject — fiber — Virginia peanuts, for example, contain a generous 2.4 grams of fiber per ounce.

There are actually two types of fiber : soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber, which is found in oats, barley, rye, dried beans, carrots, apples, black eyes peas, pinto beans, brown rice and oranges, has been shown to help lower cholesterol and blood sugar.

Insoluble fiber (or roughage) doesn’t dissolve in water and therefore helps add “bulk” to our body waste, resulting in better regularity. It can be found in cereals, wheat bran and the stalks and peels of fruits and vegetables, strawberries, bananas, pears, green beans, broccoli, and peppers.

Many vegetable and fruit sources contain both soluble and insoluble fiber.

To add fiber to your diet (and reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates) chose :

whole foods over processed foods

whole wheat bread over white bread

brown rice is better than white rice

whole fruits are better than canned juices

Distilled alcohol and wine predictably don’t have any fiber although beer has .7 gram per 12 ounces and you’ll get 1.4 grams from a Bloody Mary from six ounces of tomato juice and a large stalk of celery.

As always, “everything in moderation”, peanuts included. To our collective health !

Forced flu vaccinations ? A shot in the arm for Big Pharma profits !

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:42:54 +0000

Behind the push to vaccinate the entire population [for Flu H1N1] are the pharmaceutical makers of the vaccines, who are working in conjunction with the government to make the vaccine mandatory.

Homeland security and FEMA are pushing for forced vaccinations and the medical experts, virologists and epidemiologists are calling for calm and resorting to voluntary vaccination only. The former have links with the vaccine manufacturers via political contacts.

A great deal of money will be made by the manufacturers, should forced vaccinations be mandated.

Read more at mercola.com

Dangerous Bacteria In The Weirdest Places

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:50:35 +0000

The picture pretty much says it all. Look to your showerhead for hidden bacteria that may result in infections for some people.

Click here for the full story.